529 killed in exodus to homeland in Indonesia

JAKARTA, Indonisa - Exodus to homeland for celebrating Islamic festivity, Eid al-Fitr, has already killed 529 people in 3, 452 traffic accidents in Indonesia, media quoting official reported here on Wednesday.

Data from Transport Ministry said that 837 people suffered from serious injury and 2,829 others got mild wounds.

"We recorded a total of 3,452 traffic accidents from eight days before to two days after the Eid al-Fitr holidays," the ministry's national exodus head Hotma Simanjuntak was quoted by the Jakarta Post as saying.

To help secure the big journey, police had dispatched 88,000 of its personnel, Brig. General Rafli Amar, national police spokesman has said.

Return to homeland for celebrating Islamic festivity is a tradition in Indonesia, where most of its 238 million population are Muslims that make it the world's most populous Muslim country.